We try to put some kind of quote on every map we print - sometimes philosophical, sometimes whimsical, sometimes historical or relevent to the area. For us, Robert Service is a source of good material.
Here is a classic from Jack London -
"Deep in the forest a call was sounding, and as often as he heard this call, mysteriously thrilling and luring, he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it, and to plunge into the forest, and on and on, he knew not where or why; nor did he wonder where or why, the call sounding imperiously, deep in the forest."
The most recent one we used was "The wisest follow their own direction" (Euripedes). BC once used a quote by one of our earlier Prime Ministers - "While some countries have too much history Canada has too much geography." We have a pretty good one from Winnie the Pooh in waiting.
One of my favourites (on the OABC web page is "Not all those who wander are lost" by Tolkien.
"Stand in the place where you are - now face north."
REM
There's this encounter with a famous northern Orienteering coach (alias the Red Queen):
"...........she thought she would try the plan, this time, of walking in the opposite direction.
It succeeded beautifully. She had not been walking a minute before she found herself face to face with the Red Queen, and full in sight of the hill she had been so long aiming at.
'Where do you come from?' said the Red Queen. 'And where are you going! Look up, speak nicely, and don't twiddle your fingers all the time.'
Alice attended to all these directions, and explained, as well as she could, that she had lost her way.
'I don't know what you mean by your way,' said the Queen: 'all the ways about here belong to me - but why did you come out here at all!' she added in a kinder tone. 'Curtsey while you're thinking what to say. It saves time."
(with apologies from a new user ......gone back to lurking now )
"I made it through the wilderness
Somehow I made it through
Didn't know how lost I was
Until I found you"
Like a Virgin, Madonna
"watch the way I navigate"
the Gorillaz
"where am I going, I don't quite know" etc. from AA Milne is lovely
and some more REM
Maps and Legends off Fables of the Reconstruction or is that Reconstruction of the Fables (depends which way you pick up the LP)
Maybe he's caught in the legend,
Maybe he's caught in the mood
Maybe these maps and legends
Have been misunderstood
I've always been partial to Neil Young, but have never really found any gems. There's:
Everybody seems to wonder,
What it's like down here.
Gotta get away from this day to day running around.
Everybody knows this is nowhere.
And not that this next one has a heck of a lot to do with orienteering, but it does tend to describe the way I feel after many of my races. Clean and to the point:
"He tried to do his best, but he could not."
And another great one from Alice in Wonderland, we put on our Long Lake map:
Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?
That depends a good deal on where you want to get to, said the Cat.
I don't much care where, said Alice.
Then it doesn't matter which way you go, said the Cat.
-- so long as I get somewhere, Alice added as an explanation.
Oh you're sure to do that, said the cat, if you only walk long enough.
Canadian band The Rheostatics in their song, Record Body Count (awesome live band by the way)
He chased me half way through the park
Till I ran into the woods
Then I'm (very good) in the woods
I should have included the next line in my REM quote, as it's good advice for White/Yellow runners:
"Think about direction, wonder why you haven't before."
This one isn't very orienteering specific, but it is good for all occasions.
Mongol General: "What is best in life?"
Conan: "To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."
On a Neil Young note, the late great Michael Hedges said that when he started out he would play a lot of Neil Young songs, then once in a while slip in one of his own. The crowd would respond with a hearty, "More Neil Young!"
Life's too short to run on pavement - me.
Eric, I love that one! It's so true! This summer, after having already gone to 10-20 orienteering events in the past, I was surprised to discover that the compass actually *does* help me find controls. I never fully bothered with the thing before, but rather relied on people and some (meager) spacial abilities to guide me (get lost). And that time I lined up the compass with the map and was almost shocked when I found a correct control! And I wondered why I'd never really thought about direction before...
Two from Buckaroo Banzai:
"No matter where you go, there you are."
"Character is what you are in the dark." (good for Night-O)
One from me: "Orienteers don't get lost. They just lose map contact."
"There is no way to satirize a map. It keeps telling you where you are. And if you're not there you're lost. Everything is reduced to meaning. A map may lie, but it never jokes." --Howard McCord, 'Listening to Maps'
"Maps encourage boldness. They're like cryptic
love letters. They make anything seem possible."
~Mark Jenkins, "To Timbuktu"
"Only by going alone in silence, without
baggage, can one truly get into the heart
of the wilderness. All other travel is mere
dust and hotels and baggage and chatter."
~John Muir
For those who love other forms of travel and exploring too, there's a great quotes page called
Gone Walkabout.
Bizarre trivia you never knew:
There is a song called "Orienteering" by the band Chumbawumba (better known as the one hit wonders behind the song "Tubthumping")
The LP was called "101 Songs about Sport" and recorded under the name "Sportchestra"
Compass, whistle, cagoul, map
Count your steps along the track
To checkpoint one
Checkpoint two
Checkpoint three and back
Compass bearing sou-sou-west
Choose the route you think is best
Judging distance, pace and line
Head and feet to cut the time
To checkpoint one
Checkpoint two
Checkpoint three and back
Checkpoint one
Checkpoint two
Checkpoint three and back
The map is not the territory -- Alfred Korzybski
A favorite of semiotics geeks and those who check "did not like map" alot.
Surprised noone's included a Jimmy Buffett song; Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes is the most obvious one, but there are lots more.
And how about Haiku?
You step in the stream
but the water has moved on.
The flag is not here.
How about this as an awesome description of the state of mind and body (calm agressiveness)required for "O":
"Still as a mountain, move like a river."
I'm not sure of the original source but I've heard that this (probably paraphrased) quote is on a plaque at the Palestra at UPenn.
To play the game is great,
To win the game is greater,
To love the game is the greatest of all.
Just saw this on Pasi Ikonen's page:
As OP Kärkkäinen once said in an old chronicle: "Orienteering is a tough discipline for tough men in which sissys won't do!"
Saw
this one on an info board last weekend.
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